Three astronauts blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 2F rocket at 17:38 Beijing time (09:38 GMT).

As the spacecraft passed an altitude of 100 kilometers Wang Yaping (王亚平) became China's second female astronaut in space.

The spacecraft successfully entered Earth orbit, and shortly after unfolded its solar panels and antenna, prompting celebrations in mission control at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and China's first astronaut Yang Liwei and others watched the launch from the center in Jiuquan.

Mr Xi shook hands with those participating in the program and congratulated them on the successful launch.

Mission objectives

Shenzhou-10 will be China's longest manned space mission thus far.

Commander Nie Haisheng (聂海胜), Zhang Xiaoguang (张晓光) and Ms Wang Yaping will spend 15 days in space, during which time the craft will rendezvous and dock with the Tiangong-1 space module.

Shenzhou-10 will dock twice with the lab module, once automatically and once manually. Additionally, it will also fly around Tiangong-1 to test different rendezvous approaches.

As well as testing the docking systems, the spacecraft, and the abilities of the crew, the crew will perform a number of experiments and broadcast a classroom lesson to Chinese students on Earth.

According to China.org, the mission includes individually designed menus for the three astronauts.

China's space program: Past and Future

Shenzhou 10 is the latest mission of Project 921, the code name given to the Chinese human space flight program, which was officially launched in 1992. Yang Liwei became the first Chinese person in space aboard Shenzhou-5 on October 15, 2003.

China's plans for the second decade of manned space exploration include establishing a space station in orbit around the Earth by 2020.

The country is currently developing the Long March 5 rocket, which will enable China to put larger payloads into space, such as the Tiangong-2 module, which will serve as a test component ahead of the country's space station.